Untamed Bachelors. Susan Stephens

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СКАЧАТЬ safer here. Thank you. For helping me out. And for this afternoon with the kids.’

      She looked over then, and smiled at him—just a hint but, ah, God, it was as if the sun came out. He wanted to pull her close, kiss away the demons he saw in her eyes, but that special kind of intimacy was more than he had in him to give. He didn’t want to get emotionally involved. For her sake as well as his own. He turned away. ‘Anyone would do the same. Let’s go put a dent in that curry.’

      They sat down to tandoori chicken and beef vindaloo with rice, servings of crisp pappadums, cool cucumber raita and tangy mango chutney. Ellie attacked her meal with a vengeance which appeared to be borne of anger rather than hunger.

      Finding your apartment ransacked was a rotten end to anyone’s day. He picked up his glass, took a few mouthfuls of water—she’d refused his suggestion of wine so he’d opted out too—and watched her. The way her lips closed over the spoon, lightly glossed with oil. Her fingers, slender with short, unpolished nails.

      He could almost feel those fingers drifting over him in pleasure, clutching at him in passion. He shifted uncomfortably on his chair. In the silence he could almost hear his own blood rushing through his veins and making his jeans two sizes too tight.

       Timing again.

      The best he could do was to take her mind off her troubles and his mind off his libido. ‘What do you do when you’re feeling down, Ellie?’

      ‘I’m not down, just angry.’ She stabbed a cube of beef, shoved it in her mouth and chewed vigorously.

      ‘So what do you do when you’re angry?’

      ‘Run.’ A small smile lifted the edges of her mouth. ‘Not the running-away quitting kind of running, the simple mind-clearing act of pushing one’s self to the limit. That nervous energy I mentioned? I channel it. If there was a beach nearby that’s what I’d do. With the wind on my face and the sound of surf in my ears. I’d run until I couldn’t run another step, then I’d stand on a cliff and watch the waves roll in. And pray for a storm.’

      He set his glass down, laid his hands on the table. ‘How about now?’

      Ellie’s brow pleated. ‘It’s hardly beach weather.’

      ‘Does that stop you?’

      ‘Well, no…’

      He leaned back and watched her. ‘Ever ridden a motorbike?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘There’s nothing like it. Hitting the bitumen, outriding your problems. Ride till you come to the end of the road. Same rush, same result. I have an idea.’ He rose, skirted the table and reached for her hand, tugged her up, then headed for the door.

      ‘Wait up, where are we going?’

      He turned to her and grinned. ‘My place.’

      ‘Your place?’ Ellie stared at those beguiling brown eyes while her heart thudded loud and strong against her ribs. ‘I thought you lived here when you come to Melbourne.’

      ‘Nope. My place is down the coast a bit along the Great Ocean Road. Lorne has the best view in the world.’

      ‘But Lorne’s a couple of hours’ drive away.’

      ‘Less if the traffic’s light. It’s a clear night. What better way to dust off the cobwebs and get that adrenaline pumping?’

      ‘Hang on…’ A frisson of something like excitement inextricably bound with alarm zipped down her spine. ‘A motorbike was mentioned. You’re going to ride there?’

      ‘No, we’re going to ride there.’ When she just stared at him while that adrenaline geysered up and churned with her dinner, he smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Ellie. I’ve got two helmets and I don’t take risks.’

      ‘But it’s already nearly ten o’clock.’ She did not add that 10:00 p.m. was her routine bedtime. Although tonight she wasn’t anywhere near ready to sleep.

      His eyes darkened and his voice deepened. ‘Guess that means we’ll be staying the night.’

Chapter Nine

      STAYING the night. In Matt’s house. Just her and him and…Ellie’s pulse leapt. And…? And if she wanted, she could let herself go for once and give in to this attraction.

      One night with Matt McGregor.

      She steeled herself to hold his gaze and that now-familiar current of energy arced across the space between them, sparking flashes of anticipation along every nerve ending. ‘I’ll need to collect a few things on the way.’

      His eyes twinkled with something like amusement. ‘I have a spare toothbrush.’

      Her jaw firmed at the timely reminder. She just bet he did. Probably a whole box for all those unexpected female guests who slept over. She refused to let the doubt demons get to her. Tonight Ellie was going to be that guest, and tonight was all that mattered.

      ‘And an efficient underfloor heating system,’ he went on smoothly. ‘So you don’t need a thing.’

      No, she didn’t imagine she did. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. ‘I hope the view’s worth it.’

      His gaze flicked briefly to the cleavage she’d unwittingly created, then just as quickly back to her face. ‘Oh, it will be, I assure you.’

      Her nipples tingled and tightened as heat spurted up her neck, bled into her cheeks. Were they talking about the same thing? She’d not participated in this kind of sexual innuendo in more than two years. Not since Heath…

      ‘Grab your jacket and I’ll meet you out front in a few minutes.’

      She grabbed her backpack from the couch in the lounge room, her problems shoved to the back of her mind and a sense of anticipation rocketing through her as she slipped a cardigan over her sweater and dragged on her jacket before hurrying downstairs.

      He’d changed and wore a black leather bomber jacket over his white T-shirt and jeans and was holding two helmets. The evening breeze slid through his spiked hair, giving it a reckless windswept edge. He looked more than a little bit dangerous.

      Her heart skidded to a halt, then resumed at twice its speed. Beneath the canopy of inky sky with a whiff of motor oil in her nostrils and the throaty sound of the black-and-silver monster warming up beside him…well, it felt like some sort of illicit fantasy.

      He must have transferred that recklessness to her. The spine-tingling prospect of freedom and being with Matt on that metallic beast as he whisked her away from reality…Just for tonight she wanted to forget everything and enjoy the ride—and it wasn’t only the bike she was thinking of.

      As he settled the helmet on her head, helped her adjust it, she admitted, ‘I’ve never been game enough to ride on a motorbike.’

      He climbed on, turned the key, patted the seat behind him. ‘It’s easy,’ he said over the СКАЧАТЬ